diff --git a/volttron/platform/vip/agent/subsystems/auth.py b/volttron/platform/vip/agent/subsystems/auth.py
index 8ba4e2dcba..9337d0e513 100644
--- a/volttron/platform/vip/agent/subsystems/auth.py
+++ b/volttron/platform/vip/agent/subsystems/auth.py
@@ -265,6 +265,7 @@ def update_rpc_method_capabilities(self):
         """
         rpc_method_authorizations = {}
         rpc_methods = self.get_rpc_exports()
+        updated_rpc_authorizations = None
         for method in rpc_methods:
             if len(method.split(".")) > 1:
                 pass
@@ -295,9 +296,7 @@ def update_rpc_method_capabilities(self):
                 _log.info(
                     f"Skipping updating rpc auth capabilities for agent "
                     f"{self._core().identity} connecting to remote address: {self._core().address} ")
-                updated_rpc_authorizations = None
         except gevent.timeout.Timeout:
-            updated_rpc_authorizations = None
             _log.warning(f"update_id_rpc_authorization rpc call timed out for {self._core().identity}   {rpc_method_authorizations}")
         except MethodNotFound:
             _log.warning("update_id_rpc_authorization method is missing from "
@@ -306,7 +305,6 @@ def update_rpc_method_capabilities(self):
                          "dynamic RPC authorizations.")
             return
         except Exception as e:
-            updated_rpc_authorizations = None
             _log.exception(f"Exception when calling rpc method update_id_rpc_authorizations for identity: "
                            f"{self._core().identity}  Exception:{e}")
         if updated_rpc_authorizations is None:
@@ -318,7 +316,7 @@ def update_rpc_method_capabilities(self):
                 f"the identity of the agent"
             )
             return
-        if rpc_method_authorizations != updated_rpc_authorizations:
+        if rpc_method_authorizations != updated_rpc_authorizations and updated_rpc_authorizations is not None:
             for method in updated_rpc_authorizations:
                 self.set_rpc_authorizations(
                     method, updated_rpc_authorizations[method]
diff --git a/volttron/platform/web/admin_endpoints.py b/volttron/platform/web/admin_endpoints.py
index 9de8d05a5c..d307b2f353 100644
--- a/volttron/platform/web/admin_endpoints.py
+++ b/volttron/platform/web/admin_endpoints.py
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@
 from volttron.platform import get_home
 from volttron.platform import jsonapi
 from volttron.utils import VolttronHomeFileReloader
-from volttron.utils.persistance import PersistentDict
 
 
 _log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ def __init__(self, rmq_mgmt=None, ssl_public_key: bytes = None, rpc_caller=None)
         else:
             self._ssl_public_key = None
 
-        self._userdict = None
+        self._userdict = {}
         self.reload_userdict()
 
         self._observer = Observer()
@@ -96,7 +95,14 @@ def __init__(self, rmq_mgmt=None, ssl_public_key: bytes = None, rpc_caller=None)
 
     def reload_userdict(self):
         webuserpath = os.path.join(get_home(), 'web-users.json')
-        self._userdict = PersistentDict(webuserpath, format="json")
+        if os.path.exists(webuserpath):
+            with open(webuserpath) as fp:
+                try:
+                    self._userdict = jsonapi.loads(fp.read())
+                except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
+                    self._userdict = {}
+                    # Keep same behavior as with PersistentDict
+                    raise ValueError("File not in a supported format")
 
     def get_routes(self):
         """
@@ -339,4 +345,5 @@ def add_user(self, username, unencrypted_pw, groups=None, overwrite=False):
             groups=groups
         )
 
-        self._userdict.sync()
+        with open(os.path.join(get_home(), 'web-users.json'), 'w') as fp:
+            fp.write(jsonapi.dumps(self._userdict, indent=2))